Howard Carter found an almost intact royal tomb, KV62, on its west bank in November 1922 (1922)
Tutankhamun's tomb, funded by Lord Carnarvon
Geography · Cities
Luxor
ancient Thebes; capital of Egypt in the Middle and New Kingdoms
Egyptian city on the Nile built over ancient Thebes — Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and the royal necropolis
A city of some half a million people on the Nile in Upper Egypt, built over and around the ruins of Thebes, capital of Egypt through much of the Middle and New Kingdoms. The east bank holds the vast temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor; the west bank holds the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the mortuary temples. The whole site has been World Heritage listed since 1979.
How to spot them
- ▸The modern Egyptian city standing on the ruins of ancient Thebes, in the governorate of the same name
- ▸Quiz clue: 'Karnak', 'Valley of the Kings', 'Deir el-Bahari', 'Colossi of Memnon', 'Avenue of Sphinxes'
- ▸Homer called the ancient city 'hundred-gated'; the tomb of Tutankhamun lies on its west bank
- ▸One of its obelisks stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris
Key facts
Its greatest temple complex, sacred to Amun-Re, includes a hypostyle hall of 134 giant columns
Karnak; the hall was built under Seti I and Ramesses II
One of the pair of obelisks from its riverside temple was shipped to Paris and raised in 1836 (1836)
The Place de la Concorde obelisk, a gift from Muhammad Ali Pasha
Two colossal seated statues of Amenhotep III on its west bank were said by the Greeks to sing at dawn
The Colossi of Memnon; a crack made one hum until repairs in the 3rd century AD
Hatshepsut's terraced mortuary temple stands against the cliffs at Deir el-Bahari
Designed by the steward Senenmut
An avenue of sphinxes nearly three kilometres long, linking two temples, was ceremonially reopened in 2021 (2021)
The Avenue of Sphinxes, or Road of the Rams
Homer called the ancient city here 'hundred-gated', to distinguish it from a Greek namesake
Iliad IX; the Greek city of the same name was 'seven-gated'
Twenty-two royal mummies were paraded by road from here to a new museum in Cairo in 2021 (2021)
The Pharaohs' Golden Parade, to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
Quick-fire facts
- •Population roughly half a million; capital of Luxor Governorate in Upper Egypt
- •Built on ancient Thebes, Egyptian Waset, capital in the Middle and New Kingdoms
- •Inscribed by UNESCO in 1979 as 'Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis'
- •East bank: Karnak and Luxor temples; west bank: the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens and mortuary temples
- •Tutankhamun's tomb (KV62) was found by Howard Carter on 4 November 1922
- •The Karnak hypostyle hall covers about 5,000 m² with 134 columns
- •The Luxor obelisk's twin stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris
- •The Colossi of Memnon are two 18-metre statues of Amenhotep III
- •The Avenue of Sphinxes between Karnak and Luxor temples reopened in November 2021
- •A massacre of tourists at Hatshepsut's temple in 1997 devastated Egyptian tourism for years
Drill it — 8 cards
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Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Luxor